VERONA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 20: Hellas Verona head coach Paolo Zanetti watches the Serie A match between Hellas Verona FC and Juventus FC at Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi on September 20, 2025 in Verona, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images)
Verona have fresh injury problems ahead of tomorrow’s match against Inter, with coach Paolo Zanetti insisting Inter are “one of the top five teams in Europe”.
Kick-off will take place on Sunday at 11:30 GMT at the Stadio Bentegodi.
Hellas are still aiming for their first win in Serie A, but were also eliminated in the second round of the Coppa Italia against Venice.
Suat Serdar scored in the 3-1 defeat to Como in midweek, but he was not included in the squad for the game against Inter, along with Unai Nunez, El Santiago, Daniel Oyeegoke and Tomas Suslov.
Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpuro and Grigoris Kastanos are also not 100 percent.
Zanetti told a press conference: “We don’t know how long Serdar will be out, but we hope it’s not too serious. He will definitely not play in this game. We’ll see next week.”
“Akpa Akpuro and Kastanos are back, Al Muslati and Nunez should return to training on Tuesday. Oyegoke needs time to heal his fracture.”
Zanetti hopes Verona can compete against Inter
Inter are unbeaten in their last 28 Serie A matches against Verona, an incredible record.
“They are one of the top five teams in Europe and are at the top according to all possible indicators. But we need to focus only on ourselves and not on them. We need a great performance and we also need to have the right mentality for the next game, which will be decisive for us,” Zanetti added.
“I told the players that we want to see the same Verona that we played against Juventus and Roma. We don’t want to disappoint the fans in these difficult times, when they are trying so hard to help us. We want to give 100 percent, but Inter play practically a different league to us.”
Verona could rest Rafik Berghali, considering he received a yellow card and big games against Lecce, Parma and Genoa are coming up.
“He is an essential player for us at the moment. He has unique characteristics and is organized both in defense and in attack, because many of our movements start from him. We have to take this into account, but at the same time we want to use the best eleven,” Zanetti added.
Other injuries led to changes in Hellas Verona’s defense.
“Until Unai Nuñez was injured, Víctor Nelson seemed more consistent on the right side of center. That’s why we moved him to center in the last game. I have great respect for Nelson, but we can’t expect perfection from our players all the time.”
“We are working on the situation from wing-back to wing-back, because the pressure to score doesn’t fall on all the strikers. We all need to be involved and be more resourceful in front of the net. We haven’t had enough goals this season, but we haven’t had enough determination either.”
Gift Orbán has been criticized by some fans for being too open about his frustrations with his team-mates when the supply wasn’t what they expected.
“This is Orbán. He has an individualistic approach, but he gives his all. That’s why against Como he started from his own half with a hunger for goals. Perhaps he needs to limit this attitude to some extent, but as long as the team likes him, they will accept him for who he is.”
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